Southwest questions

Does anyone know what time the Southwest counter opens on Saturday? Our flight is around 3pm and I want to give ourselves plenty of time but don't want to wait around if the counter doesn't open till noon. Also has anyone been on the Saturday afternoon nonstop to BWI? Was it packed? I know this can vary week to week, just curious how popular this route is.

I took the Friday August 8 non-stop to BWI (1:55 pm departure) and I assume it's the same time on Saturday. We got to the airport around 11:15 and the check-in line at the Southwest counter was very long! The good news is that it moved very quickly, so it looked a lot worse than it really was.

The other good news is that we had the most pleasant experience so far in departing Aruba. No line for Aruban immigration/customs, no line for the first security check, bags were waiting to be picked up before going through US immigration/customs so no wait there, LONG line for US immigration/customs but the A/C was working well and we happily chatted with others in line about their trips and ours, and finally no line for the second security check. We were at our gate by 12:30 for 1:55 flight. Like I said, best experience yet and a pleasant surprise after dreading it after past experiences.

The other good news is that we had the most pleasant experience so far in departing Aruba. No line for Aruban immigration/customs, no line for the first security check, bags were waiting to be picked up before going through US immigration/customs so no wait ....

Were the short lines were a result of an early flight or was there another reason?